Episode 188 - Merry Ugly Christmas

Welcome

00:00:22Melissa Erbacher: dingle all the way it is the season final of season four it's episode 46 of season four of the parkrun adventurers podcast in layman's term that's also known as episode 188 pretty good number that one My name is Mel Erbacher. I am co-host of this little podcast that we love to call The parkrun adventurers.

Interview Scott Watkins — Event Director, Albert Melbourne parkrun, guest co-host for the season finale

00:00:48Melissa Erbacher: And joining me today, because the podcast has been sadly lacking Scotty for quite a while, we have found a Scott. We've got the wonderful Dr. Scott Watkins from Albert Melbourne parkrun. Scott, welcome to the podcast.

00:01:04Scott Watkins: Thank you, Mel. It's a real honour and privilege Pleasure and privilege to be here as a longtime listener and very occasional contributor. I've obviously been a big fan and called up off the bench for an end-of-season contribution. It's great to be here. Thank you.

00:01:22Melissa Erbacher: Well, thank you for being willing to come along. We've got to bring out the big guns for the end of the year, always. And you are the big guns. You mentioned that you have been a long-time listener and occasional contributor. You've contributed some pretty decent efforts this year with some of your overseas adventures.

00:01:39Scott Watkins: I've, yeah, I get, for those who know me, I travel a fair bit for work and the growth of parkrun around the world in the last couple of years has been amazing. It's given me a chance to visit places that I would not have been able to visit before. And so being able to combine work and parkrun adventures has been great. So, Yeah, I've tried to drop in a couple of little adventures and yeah, they've been really great. An aspect of recording the contributions has been that I get to meet some people, you know, go up and say, can I talk to you and stuff like that. So it gives you an excuse to meet an even broader range of people when you visit the event. So, yeah, that's been great. But parkrun growing in many different countries and many different places within those countries has been a huge thing, particularly in the last year or two. And that's coincided with me, as I said, travelling a lot for work. So it's certainly added to my adventures.

00:02:36Melissa Erbacher: And it's added to the podcast. So thank you for that. Now, let's start. I'm hoping you're wearing your Santa hat or some kind of equally festive head adornment.

00:02:46Scott Watkins: Oh, totally. I'm full on Santa uniform here. The listeners can imagine that. Yeah, definitely.

00:02:54Melissa Erbacher: Excellent. That's what we like to hear. It was a big weekend for parkrun. My... Tale from this weekend is a little bit sadder than some, but that's okay. Yeah, but let's start with you. Where did you parkrun this week?

00:03:09Scott Watkins: So yesterday I was at Albert Melbourne parkrun where my wife Joanne and I are the Event Directors. And yesterday was one of the relatively rare occasions when Joanne and I both participated. So I had a run. Joanne was actually the Tail Walker. But, yeah, we had Beatrice on doing run directing, which was great. But, yeah, it was another – Another great weekend. It was, I mean, many parts of the country have been experiencing high temperatures recently, but Melbourne was a bit crazy this week. I drove back on Friday morning and it got to 43 here on Friday and it was very hot. Even like seven o'clock on Friday night, it was still 43 degrees. It's like, well, this is very... very warm but yeah but by um by parkrun time on Saturday it actually cooled down in a typical Melbourne way to about 20 so you know the temperature had halved overnight and so it was actually quite pleasant and a little bit of a little bit of a breeze so yeah we had had a good time we had um as we often do, a large number of visitors coming out doing their first time parkrun overseas, and that's always very exciting to meet people who are doing that. We had quite a lot of milestones. One of our very regular volunteers, Kai, clocked up his 25th volunteering day, milestone which is great um you know people like him we every parkrun has them you know the people who are who are just there whenever you need them and volunteer a lot and it's great to be able to recognise those sort of people um and then yeah I had a run with um a few of my mates who all said oh we're going to take it easy and you know just run like you know, gentle and stuff like that. But yeah, we ended up accelerating quite a lot throughout the run, which was a bit of a surprise to me.

00:04:53Melissa Erbacher: It's always a lie when people say, no, I'm just going to take it easy today. Like somebody else's easy is never my easy and they always pick up the pace. It's just, it's always a lie. Yeah.

00:05:04Scott Watkins: Yes, well, the fourth kilometre, I was going much faster than what I had in any way anticipated. And I said to my mate, Ben, I can't stay with you for this. So he pulled away a bit in the last kilometre. But yeah, we definitely climbed the ladder a little bit in terms of increasing our pace. But yeah, it was a good morning. So what about your weekend? You alluded to disappointment, but what happened?

00:05:29Melissa Erbacher: Well, you might have picked up that my voice sounds a little bit, for lack of a better word, snotty this week and congested. I've been a little bit poorly. I did a video teaching people DIY on Friday morning and that's when I recorded it and I was starting to get a bit of a sore throat that day and it just escalated toward the end of the day to being worse and then overnight it got even worse. I made the call on Friday evening. I originally had plans to drive down to the Gold Coast, about two and a half hours to adventure to Broadbeach Waters and do a parkrun down there with none other than the one and only Scotty Trickett, who was up visiting for the weekend.

00:06:16Scott Watkins: Yeah, I did see that on the interwebs in Queensland. Yeah.

00:06:21Melissa Erbacher: But I made the call on Friday night that probably I've been burning the candle in the middle as well as both ends. And for the benefit of my health, it might be a better idea to stay a bit closer to home, get a little bit more sleep. And as such, I put my hand up to volunteer at Kawana. Then we woke up a bit before our alarms on Saturday morning because Wes was vomiting in his bed. So my poor little cookie was a little sick boy and I'm not sure if he has the same virus or lurgies I've got and it just manifested a little bit differently. I haven't had any vomiting since. But he's like 100% today on what he was yesterday, whereas I'm still sort of moving into the worst of it, I think, and it's not getting better. So I miss parkrun altogether. We just couldn't go with Wes being sick and me being sick and, yeah.

00:07:20Scott Watkins: Well, it sounds like it was the right call, but it was International Ugly Christmas Singlet Day, but that was pretty popular across the country. Joanne and I rocked ours down here in Melbourne and we got a lot of very positive comments on it and even more online afterwards, particularly with some of my friends overseas. They were actually quite taken by that. There was a lot of, they're not ugly, they're cute, where can I get one? So... But there were a lot of photos came through online. Did you get to look through them?

00:07:53Melissa Erbacher: Yeah. So that was the highlight of my weekend was being able to experience parkrun vicariously through everybody else and experience International Ugly Christmas Singlet Day through all the photos. It's been an amazing success and the growth of it since the Well, we didn't have the official day last year, but we had ugly singlets out in the wild and this year it has just grown exponentially and so awesome seeing everybody's photos and even the homemade singlets, which I got a great kick out of seeing those as well. I thought my original intention was to do the DIY video about a week earlier and post it so people had more time, but as it turns out, People still used it, took some inspiration from it. It turns out safety pins is the one thing that everyone's like, oh, why didn't I think of safety pins? So I'm glad that I could impart that little bit of wisdom to people and we got some makeshift Ugly Christmas Singlets and shirts out and about on the weekend. It was very cool to see. And thank you to everyone who took part. because it really was such a fun and massive day. I did wear my Ugly Christmas Singlet, kind of mooching about on the couch with Wes.

00:09:16Scott Watkins: But you had it on and you were participating in spirit.

00:09:21Melissa Erbacher: I was. Yes, I was. And looking forward to an even bigger, better International Ugly Christmas Singlet Day next year as well.

00:09:29Scott Watkins: Did many people in the UK get them in time and rock them despite the weather over there? Did you see many photos from there?

00:09:36Melissa Erbacher: Well, yeah, that's the beauty of it. Being international, as the day goes, the parkrunners over in the UK are obviously parkrunning 10 to 12 hours later than us here in Australia. So while all the Aussies were posting earlier in the day, the people in the UK started posting in the mid to late afternoon, evening. and we got to see all those photos too. I do know that some hadn't received theirs, but the promise from the supplier was prior to Christmas basically. So obviously I need to get them on board with understanding about the Ugly Christmas Singlet Day next year.

00:10:14Scott Trickett: Yes.

00:10:16Melissa Erbacher: But, yeah, the majority, I believe, were received and there's just a small handful who haven't got theirs quite yet, which no fault of Ventus by any means.

00:10:26Scott Watkins: No, no, there's a lot of other people involved.

00:10:29Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, it's a busy period of year with postal deliveries full stop. And with the numbers of orders that got sent out, the odds were always going to be that one or two. Didn't quite make it in time. Hopefully none... get 100% lost. Everybody got their singlet last year. So I'm hoping that we'll still have 100% delivery rate, even if a couple of them are a bit tardy.

00:10:54Scott Watkins: And so for people that are listening, there's a lot of photos that have been posted on the parkrun adventurers Facebook page and also on the International Ugly Christmas Singlet page that Mel set up. So you can go through and have a look there. But I looked through a lot of them, Mel, but the people in the UK, did they wear the singlets, just the singlets, or did they add a base layer underneath?

00:11:14Melissa Erbacher: Most of them were layered either underneath and or over top as well. And I have asked a couple of them, you know, did they confuse too many people? And we had some people say, oh, yeah, I received quite a few g'days. You know, people thought I was Australian even though I'm not and things like that. So that was very cool. It's lovely to have the motif of the koala in his Christmas hat.

00:11:39Scott Watkins: Yes.

00:11:39Melissa Erbacher: Cuddling the pineapple out there and around the world.

00:11:43Scott Watkins: Well, as a fellow big fan of the pineapple, pineapples are my favourite thing in the world, just about. I've got an image that I took when I visited a pineapple farm as the background on my phone. And my friends and family constantly buy me, much to Joanne's horror, pineapple-themed things. And people, when they saw it, they were like, did they make this just for you, Scott? And I'm like, oh, there's other people in the world who like pineapple as well. You know, it's the king of fruits.

00:12:13Melissa Erbacher: I'm not alone.

00:12:14Scott Watkins: It's the king of fruits. It's got a crown on the top.

00:12:16Melissa Erbacher: It does have a crown.

00:12:18Scott Watkins: It is the number one fruit. And I think it's great that it was so prominent on the singlet. The other thing that I really enjoyed on social media yesterday was actually seeing people who, you know, I didn't actually know were regular listeners of the podcast come Standing there rocking the singlet, it's like, oh, wow, you're really into this too. So it's a little bit of a reveal of people's interest in the podcast as well.

00:12:44Melissa Erbacher: Absolutely. It's a great way for people to sort of recognise each other. But to be honest, there are people out there that are rocking the Ugly Christmas Singlets who aren't listeners of the pod. And I'm 100% okay with that because that means- But how did they find out about it? They've been shared by pod listeners and they just loved the concept, love Christmas, love the idea of ugly Christmas in Australia, appropriate apparel. And so they've adopted it, which is why- I think Ugly Christmas Singlet Day is going to transcend the podcast and it's going to become a beast all of its own, which I'm extremely excited about.

00:13:24Scott Watkins: Yes.

00:13:24Melissa Erbacher: Can't wait to see it grow in the future years, as I said.

00:13:27Scott Watkins: It was great. But, yeah, as I mentioned earlier, a number of my friends online said that they didn't think they were ugly, so... They thought they were actually pretty cute. So are you going to take on board that feedback and try and make it actually more ugly next year? Or what's your thinking on that?

00:13:44Melissa Erbacher: So there is an anatomy. Yeah, there are certain elements that go into an Ugly Christmas Singlet. Like, for example, you have to have a pattern that is way too busy for the eyes to comfortably focus on for a particular length of time. It needs to have a corny slogan, hence the wishing you a quality Christmas. A single motif on the front is not perfect, necessarily like key you can you can go that way or you can just go the 100 busy over the top kind of thing but if you do have a motif it needs to be large and out of proportion and nonsensical so the idea of using something that is not traditionally related to Christmas like a koala or a pineapple it doesn't make sense it makes people ask questions that's important as well so those elements are all Working together to make the Ugly Christmas Singlet. And yeah, I mean, it's a cute koala. And who doesn't love a pineapple?

00:14:48Gerard: Yes.

00:14:48Melissa Erbacher: So you've got those people out there that are like, oh, I just love the design. But then there are other people like, I don't get it. Why? And so one person's ugly is another person's beautiful. And you're never going to make everybody happy in terms of what you would classify as ugly. I kind of think... they're hideous and perhaps I could have gone uglier but there is a line and I've already started plans for next year's design and that's going to be another fun one to unveil and hoping everybody loves it just as much as this year because this year has definitely gone gangbusters and has permeated our society a lot further than we ever expected the original reach would be.

00:15:36Scott Watkins: Excellent, yes. Well, I'll rock it again on Wednesday. We're having a Christmas Day run down here, so I will do that then as well. So, yeah, hopefully if you are coming along, if you're listening and you're coming along to Albert Melbourne on Wednesday, do wear your singlet and it would be great to get some more photos of more people in it by the lake.

00:15:56Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, that would be Christmas Day. You're having a Christmas Day party.

00:16:00Scott Watkins: We are indeed.

00:16:01Melissa Erbacher: But the Ugly Christmas Singlet can be worn all year round, as many people have mentioned in the past, and I will be doing the double on New Year's Day. The first event I will do in last year's Christmas singlet and then the second event I will do in this year's Christmas singlet. Oh, that's a nice idea. There's another opportunity there as well. It's always good on the double to change your running top because the first one gets all sweaty and gross and then you can have a nice fresh one for the second.

00:16:27Scott Watkins: Yeah, well, and it looks better in the photos too. So, yeah, that's a good point. Unfortunately, I'm going to miss a double this year. We had one planned, Joanne and I, going down to Tasmania to Cradle Mountain. And we thought we could manage one around Devonport, but Devonport actually had to pull out of hosting one on New Year's Day because I think there's fireworks going on there. So... We get to Port Sorell, I'm not sure how the locals pronounce it, but yeah, it's a bit too much of a drive to get to Launceston or any of the other ones that are doing one there. So we'll just have the one on New Year's Day.

00:17:04Melissa Erbacher: Well, one parkrun's better than none.

00:17:06Scott Watkins: It is indeed. And also as an event team, we're not actually putting on one at Albert Melbourne this year on New Year's Day because we were away and we just weren't 100% sure that we'd get enough volunteers. So I'm extremely grateful to the teams that are putting one on because it is a big ask to rock up on a first thing on January 1st and set up the cones and flags and stuff like that. So, yeah, full respect to all the teams around the world that are putting one on.

Roving reports & the Channel 5 News crew

Roving report Matty Trent — Maylands Peninsula parkrun

00:17:41Matty Trent: Good morning, Matty Trent here, reporting in from Maylands Peninsula parkrun for the parkrun adventurers. And here I have a couple in fancy dress, Emma and Ben. And I'm just wondering, Emma, why are you dressed like that today?

00:17:55Unidentified speaker: Because I'm getting married today.

00:17:58Matty Trent: Today, and you're at parkrun?

00:17:59Unidentified speaker: And I'm at parkrun, yes.

00:18:01Matty Trent: That's a little bit crazy. Now, I actually met you guys through parkrun quite a while ago. Ben, for the first time, was at parkrun. Now, that was down in Margaret River. Did you actually run that day, Ben?

00:18:14Ben: No, I kind of got dragged there, and I did volunteer, though, but I refused to run. I didn't think that I was a runner, but here I am.

00:18:25Matty Trent: how many later 90 91 or something runs later so 90 odd runs for someone who is not a runner and didn't want to go to parkrun have you volunteered and you volunteered quite a few times between then and now as well yeah yeah every I don't know a couple months or something I guess yeah and um I guess parkrun has become a pretty big big part of of your Saturday routines well we

00:18:57Unidentified speaker: after your box, so that was dedication.

00:18:59Matty Trent: Yeah, that is a big effort. But it's fantastic to see you down here. Lots of other people dressed up as well. Obviously, I don't know how many were here today, but it's a pretty decent sort of turnout for one of the smaller events in this beautiful little location. Emma, I know you've got to run.

00:19:16Unidentified speaker: Yes.

00:19:16Matty Trent: Ha-ha, boom-boom. Get yourself ready, but we'll see you a bit later.

00:19:22Unidentified speaker: Awesome.

Roving report Gerard — Nautical parkrun

00:19:25Gerard: G'day parkrun adventurers, it's the G-Train here again. This time I'm coming to you from Nautical parkrun in Canada, in the lovely suburb of Oakville, the city of Oakville, and I'm just here having a post-parkrun coffee with Roderick, Berenice and Richard, and I'll just get them to tell you a bit about their parkrun history. So over to you first, perhaps, Richard.

00:19:45Richard: Hi there. Yeah, I'm South African, living in Canada for many years. I've run at Uvongo in South Africa. A lot of people run that run. Beautiful. I've run at Modderfontein in South Africa. Also a lot of people. And today is my first parkrun in Canada in Oakville. And it's been really fun. A little bit cold, but lots of fun. Thanks, Richard. Now over to you, Berenice.

00:20:07Berenice Schuller: Hi, I'm Berenice Schuller. I am Co-Event Director and we've been doing this parkrun since May? June. May, June. May, June. So far so good, so much fun and we're hoping to get more turnout.

00:20:23Roderick: Yeah, I'm Roderick. I'm Roderick, the Event Director, parkrun reminded me so much of back home when I grew up, you know, from high school time. We used to do things called time trials, and a lot of the soccer and, sorry, the rugby and cricket teams, they used to have time trials we used to go to, and they timed it and used to get the results in the newspaper. So when I discovered parkrun about two years ago at Beach Strip, I think, well, this reminds me of back home. And then I contacted parkrun Canada, and they... the ball got rolling and we started one out in River Oaks and then from there we started another one here in Bronte which is now Nautical Park and yeah that's how it went

00:21:04Gerard: Fantastic. It was a lovely course today. We started off and ran along beside a road. Then we went into a little forest for a bit of a run through there. It was only on the third time heading into the forest that I noticed an animal warning sign. Now, back home, we do have warnings for magpies at some of our parkruns, snakes and some of the other ones, but this one was for coyotes, which was pretty cool. Did we ever get any coyotes on the course during the day?

00:21:31Roderick: We get coyotes, but the main thing we get in summer is deer. People are always amazed when they come out and see deer on the course, when they go out and do their warm-up, and they go, wow, we saw deer out there. I say, yeah, that's one of the things, that's one of the features of our parkrun, and Generally, we have to have three different routes because of the way things change. In the springtime, it gets too flooded, and then we have to use a J-shaped route. In summertime, we can stay inside the park, and that's where we see all kinds of animals, raccoons, everything.

00:21:58Gerard: That's fantastic. There was a special thing today, Berenice. Do you want to tell us about that?

00:22:02Berenice Schuller: Oh, yes. We had some cookies, like homemade cookies, to celebrate our Christmas run, pre-Christmas run. And we've made hot chocolate. And we also had Ugly Sweater Day today, which was a lot of fun to see people with their sweaters and their hats and their Christmas gear. Yeah, it was a lot of fun.

00:22:25Gerard: And so, Richard, you were saying this is your first parkrun in Canada. How many have you done, and is this the one that you'll be coming back to most, do you think?

00:22:33Richard: Definitely we'll be coming back to do parkruns. I'm off to Mexico for the winter, so maybe if they've got them in Mexico, maybe I'll check them out there. But I just want to add, so just so you guys get context, the temperature here outside is below minus 4 degrees centigrade, so it's a little probably different than what you're used to in Melbourne or other places.

00:22:51Gerard: Yes, it is a little bit different. It's not as cold as I have run in Canada. When I was here two years ago, we were getting temperatures of minus 19 without windchill and minus 27 with the windchill. So today was relatively warmer, but still enough to make you want to keep rugged up and make sure that you're protecting your extremities from getting too cold too quickly. And is there a strong running community in Bronte, Roderick?

00:23:20Roderick: The closest we have is Burlington Runners, which is maybe six miles away from here. But it's amazing, six miles is a long way away. So people, they prefer to go to, they do all their training in Burlington. And some of... The funny thing is that Beach Strip started from Burlington Runners. I think Beach Strip was the first one in the area. You came to Beach Strip, right? Is that what you said? Yeah. And, yeah, so that actually, we needed sponsors at the time, and Burlington, you know, the equipment was more expensive at the time, and now that we've got the apps and stuff, it's obviously come down in pricing. So Burlington actually started up the Beach Strip parkrun, and we branched from it because I'm actually a Burlington Runner as well. Right. So, yeah, so two parkruns from Burlington Runners. Yeah.

00:24:01Gerard: And I think you were saying that this event, Nautical, will be closing down over the winter for a short period. Is that right?

00:24:08Roderick: That's correct. The problem is we're kind of playing week by week. But we realise that last year we know that the course gets frozen over. And in the springtime, then all the ice melts and it gets flooded. So then that's why we have to have three different routes, basically. Probably what we're going to go moving forward is going to be three different routes. But they do not... The city does not plough the course, you know, and it was too icy on the other end of the course. So, yeah, we're going to shut down a little, maybe two or three months. We'll see. Play it by ear.

00:24:38Gerard: Yeah, and that's one of the things that we don't have to deal with back in Australia. I guess, you know, very much safety is a priority here so that we don't have people slipping over or breaking their ankles, that sort of thing, or breaking their hips can happen quite easily when you land on the ice.

00:24:53Roderick: Yeah, I noticed when you went into the parquet, I think you kind of gave us a warning, be careful as we turn. Is that what you said?

00:24:59Gerard: Yeah, yeah, that's right. It just felt a little bit slippery underneath the snow.

00:25:03Roderick: It seems like you almost lost your balance. Be careful, guys. You said something like that.

00:25:06Gerard: Yeah, yeah. But by the second time around, it was a lot finer. But that's one of the hidden traps here, too, is that you can get a thin layer of snow covering the ice that you can't see.

00:25:14Roderick: You can wipe out. You can fall. You did it on Friday. I did it on Friday. No, Thursday. I had a good old wipeout. Oh, yeah.

00:25:23Gerard: Yeah, so last time I was here, the person running in front of me did a U-turn and his head went one way and his legs went the other. And he still crossed the line ahead of me. Anyway, look, it's been a great chat here. As I said, we're in Tim Hortons having a coffee afterwards, a small crew. So all of my interviewees today are South Africans who have transplanted themselves to Canada over the years.

Roving report Lyndell Murray — Bunyaville parkrun

00:25:52Gerard: But it was a wonderful event here in Nautical and looking forward to coming back and doing it sometime in the near future. So thanks a lot, everyone.

00:25:59Roderick: Thank you very much. Lovely of you to visit and thanks for the words of encouragement.

00:26:04Lyndell Murray: Good morning, parkrun adventurers. It's Lyndell and I am at home at Bunyaville on Ugly Christmas Singlet Day. Where else would I be? And standing with me, I've got not four calling birds. I have four Run Directors. Just introduce yourselves.

00:26:20Steve Marston: I'm Steve Marston.

00:26:22Lyndell Murray: Friend of the podcast, Steve Marston. Paul Gray. Tara Ellis.

00:26:26Steve Marston: Tim Ellis.

Dad joke

00:26:26Lyndell Murray: Now, Tim, you are the king of the dad jokes.

00:26:29Steve Marston: I don't know about that.

00:26:31Lyndell Murray: Everybody who's friends with you on Facebook knows that. So I'm counting on you for a cracker of a Christmas joke. What have you got for me?

00:26:39Unidentified speaker: What do you call Santa when he lives at the South Pole?

00:26:43Lyndell Murray: What do you call Santa when you visit the... I don't know, Tim.

00:26:47Unidentified speaker: A lost clause.

00:26:50Lyndell Murray: Alrighty, that's a good one. Anyone going to raise Tim on a bad Santa joke? No, no, no.

00:26:57Steve Marston: Well, I would like to know why did the koala cut all the pineapple?

00:27:03Lyndell Murray: Why did the... I don't know, Steve.

00:27:06Steve Marston: I haven't got a punchline, Lyndell. I've been thinking about it for the last five kilometres and I haven't been, I could not get one that either rhymed or was funny.

00:27:15Lyndell Murray: So this isn't a joke, it's a question on notice to Mel Erbacher.

00:27:18Steve Marston: It sounds like a Christmas cracker joke, don't you think?

00:27:21Lyndell Murray: But instead, it's a beautiful pattern on a wonderful Christmas ugly singlet.

00:27:25Steve Marston: It is. It's beautiful. It's beautiful colours. Well done, Mel.

00:27:28Lyndell Murray: So Steve and I are proudly rocking our Christmas singlets today. I don't know about the rest of you. What are you guys doing, hey?

00:27:35Renata: Oh, well, I just learned Christmas colours.

00:27:37Unidentified speaker: I'm wearing the Santa hat. And I just came dressed.

00:27:40Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

00:27:40Lyndell Murray: That's always a bonus. Yeah, it's not nude parkrun day. It's good, yeah, it's not nude parkrun day. And look, you're wearing the actual Run Director's vest today, Paul. So that's probably a good enough excuse. You've got the Run Director vest on. How's today gone?

00:27:53Unidentified speaker: Yeah, really well, actually. We had a good turnout today, 120 runners. So, yeah, we're looking really good today.

00:27:59Lyndell Murray: Excellent. Alrighty, well, thank you guys for all the work you do here at Bunyaville parkrun. Excellent. Everyone knows that listens to the podcast that it's my home parkrun. It's my favourite, obviously. It's because it's the best parkrun.

00:28:10Scott Watkins: Happiest and best parkrun.

00:28:12Lyndell Murray: All right, well, thanks, guys, and I'll see you next time.

00:28:15Scott Watkins: Merry Christmas.

00:28:16Roderick: Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.

00:28:20Cameron Drake: G'day everyone, it's Cameron here, wishing you a very merry Christmas, happy holidays and a happy new year wherever you are. Big thank you to the parkrun community, to the volunteers and the event teams and everyone involved in parkrun, you are amazing. Wherever you are or whatever you're doing over the holiday period, please stay safe, stay cool. And by the way, what is Santa's favourite tense? The present!

Roving report Mark Scarborough — Gungahlin and Wagyu Bridge parkrun

00:28:50Mark Scarborough: Hello parkrun adventurers, this is Mark reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew from Canberra for the inaugural Ugly Christmas Singlet Day. Sadly all our parkruns in Canberra and surrounding areas have been cancelled due to the poor air quality from the bushfires. But that's okay, there's people having a much worse time than us. But we are all here today at our normal place for breakfast and coffee and we've actually got quite a few people, we could say a tinsel of people wearing their Ugly Christmas Singlets. So we're going to have a chat with a few of them. Good morning, how are we all? Alright, Liesl, you're the most enthusiastic this morning. Have you had most of your coffee?

00:29:35Unidentified speaker: I'm about to start my third coffee for today, so I'm going okay.

00:29:39Mark Scarborough: This explains the level of enthusiasm.

00:29:41Unidentified speaker: I've also got reindeer ears which provide a lot of enthusiasm too.

00:29:46Mark Scarborough: Now we've had to call off parkrun today which is unprecedented in Canberra but that's okay. There's people having much worse time than us and we're all having a good time and coffee. Have you managed to actually get out and run with your Ugly Christmas Singlet so far this year?

00:30:00Unidentified speaker: Yes, last weekend I went out with another parkrunner, Sarah, and we went out to Tour de Ridges, which is also known locally as Tutu de Ridges, and we got out and had a great time. So we got to wear our Christmas singlets and a tutu and run the ridges there, but it's my second outing of my shirt today.

00:30:15Mark Scarborough: And what about yourself, Bec? Have you managed to get out with your singlet for a run?

00:30:19Unidentified speaker: I have, but I wouldn't say I've been running with the smoke. It's more like a shuffle and then a cough and a walk.

00:30:25Mark Scarborough: And Alana?

00:30:27Unidentified speaker: This is my very first time wearing it. I took it on holidays, but I actually forgot to wear it last week. So I'm trying to get as much wear out of it as I can. I'm hoping Christmas Day. But if that fails, I'm going to be wearing it in Hawaii next year for the marathon.

00:30:46Mark Scarborough: Oh, a uniform for...

00:30:49Unidentified speaker: Tropical pineapple and Aussie koala.

00:30:52Mark Scarborough: And what about yourself? Are you going to bring it down on Christmas Day instead?

00:30:56Unidentified speaker: I certainly will. So I'll be volunteering down at Shellharbour and I'll be representing our lovely crew down there wearing our beautiful ugly shirts. But I've at the same time taken every opportunity to wear it this week. I can't get enough of it.

00:31:10Mark Scarborough: Now we do have some blokes here wearing, being part of the tinsel crew. How are we gents? Are we all enjoying our Ugly Christmas Singlets this year?

00:31:21Unidentified speaker: Sure. Sure?

00:31:24Mark Scarborough: You need another coffee? No, never. What about yourself, Andrew?

00:31:29Andrew: It's good, Mark. This is a good time of year.

00:31:32Mark Scarborough: And any plans to bring out the singlet on Christmas Day?

00:31:36Andrew: It might make a surprise appearance on Christmas Day. We never know yet. We'll see what happens.

00:31:41Mark Scarborough: Very good. All right, we'll go and see if we can have a chat with Scotty as well. He's all tinseled up as well. Good morning, Scotty. Hey Mark, how are you mate? I'm good, thank you. So it's good to see you got out the Ugly Christmas Singlet, even though we're not running, we're at breakfast.

00:31:55Unidentified speaker: I wouldn't say I got it out myself, I'd say I was more forced to wear it.

00:31:59Mark Scarborough: Oh okay, dressed by the better half this morning.

00:32:01Unidentified speaker: Well yes, yeah. I just wear what I'm told. It's easier that way. I stay out of trouble.

00:32:06Mark Scarborough: And we see you wearing this on Christmas Day.

00:32:09Unidentified speaker: You will, you will I dare say. Not through choice, but through force again.

00:32:13Mark Scarborough: All right, well, very good. So we're all enjoying breakfast and coffee here. And from Gungahlin and Wagyu Bridge parkrun, we wish you... Merry Christmas! It wouldn't be Christmas without a dodgy bonbon joke. So here's mine for you for 2019. Why didn't the skeleton go to the dance? Because he had nobody to go with.

00:32:37Unidentified speaker: Good morning, parkrun adventurers, and happy International Ugly Christmas Singlet Day from Wilson Botanic parkrun. Now, there's only two ugly singlets here today, myself and Zoe. However, I did find a couple of stray wooders in Victoria, Jess and Gavin. Welcome to Wilson Botanic.

00:32:55Unidentified speaker: Thank you. It's... It's hard. I just finished and I can barely breathe, but I'm still standing.

00:33:01Unidentified speaker: And tell us, just for the audience, where you're from.

00:33:04Unidentified speaker: We're from Newy, Newcastle, New South Wales. And you're just down for the weekend? Yeah, just down for a Christmas weekend with family and thought we'd come out to Wilson Botanic and, yeah, get a parkrun in.

00:33:14Unidentified speaker: Now, I do believe, although you're both sporting your lovely Wooters shirts, you actually own an ugly singlet.

00:33:20Unidentified speaker: I do own an ugly singlet. So one of the lovely ladies in the Wooters we call Bebe ordered some for us, but unfortunately I missed packing it and missed out bringing it, but definitely get it out on Christmas Day. Excellent. Where are you parkrunning on Christmas Day? Probably Lake Mac. Oh, nice. Yeah. Awesome. All right. Well, enjoy the rest of your weekend and Merry Christmas. Thank you so much. Merry Christmas. Thank you.

00:33:42Unidentified speaker: Okay, here is my Christmas bonbon joke. Hey Zoe, what's the difference between the regular alphabet and the Christmas alphabet? The alphabet. The Christmas alphabet has no L. I don't get it. Okay, Paul and Zoe, what cars do elves drive?

00:34:11Unidentified speaker: Elva Romeo.

00:34:12Unidentified speaker: toyotas at least I kind of get that one okay Zoe have you got a bonbon joke yes what does a snowman like to do on the weekends I don't know what is a snowman like to do on the weekends chill out

Roving report Paul Kitching — Pakapakanthi parkrun

00:34:35Paul Kitching: Good morning, parkrun adventurers. It's PK checking in for another roving report from Pakapakanthi today. Pakapakanthi in South Australia is, of course, the Victoria parkrun in the middle of Adelaide City. We were due to do Mount Barker, but there's been terrible fires up in the Adelaide Hills, and we are thinking of our friends who have been affected up there, and we thought best to stay off the freeway today in case there were emergency services or people trying to flee this morning. But thankfully, the cool change did come through and it's okay. But anyway, we're here to think about those people and those people affected and send our prayers and good wishes to those affected by fires, not only here in South Australia, but across Australia. And wish everyone a much better 2020. But on a happier note, I'm here for... international Ugly Christmas Singlet Day and uh it's a beautiful day here at packer we've just done it there were a few people wearing well I suppose they were ugly singlets but they certainly weren't the official one so I haven't been able to find anyone anyone wearing one of these singlets um hang on a minute someone's grabbing what wait a minute you're wearing a singlet tell me about yours oh oh thank you that's very kind of you to uh to to wrangle the phone from me uh totally unprepared um sorry what's your name

00:36:02Esme: I'm Esme. Oh, right.

00:36:04Paul Kitching: Oh, hi, Esme. You look great. Are you related to me? Maybe. Well, no, thanks, Daisy. That's very kind of you to ask me. Yes, I indeed am wearing one of the Ugly Christmas Singlets. And I thought, well, may as well chat to me about wearing one. So, yeah, it's a great singlet. I love it. So comfy to wear. Thank you for asking about it. I've had lots of awesome comments today. People had no idea about it, so... Hopefully we'll get a few more purchasers or investors to wear it next year. So we're just walking now to the cafe. So there's a few parkrunners walking around us, chatting away, hanging out for a bit of a pineapple. No, pineapple juice. But no, it's a great singlet. Thank you for asking.

00:36:46Esme: So tell me about the purchase. Where can you buy it?

00:36:49Paul Kitching: Good question again. I reckon these are now sold out for this year. But I think there was, man, why don't we just walk into a wind tunnel? Hang on a minute, people. We're just going to keep chatting. Apologies for the wind.

00:36:59Esme: Don't worry about that. We are now in the cafe. Now, Dad, tell me about your singlet.

00:37:04Paul Kitching: My singlet? Yeah, so as I was saying, it's awesome to wear. It's no surprise that it's ugly. Well, actually, some people came up to me and said, what do you mean it's ugly? It's not ugly at all. It's beautiful. So there you go, Mel. Your design, as ugly as it was, is also beautiful. No, I'm loving it. Sad to not see anybody else really wearing one here at Packer. I do know a few other people wearing it around.

00:37:28Esme: Yeah, so all around Australia. Do you know anyone?

00:37:31Paul Kitching: Yeah, I know that I'm pretty sure Ros, Ros Lowe and Janet Thompson. G'day to you both, ladies. We're wearing it today at Mount Barker. I reckon Janet at Lochiel was wearing one. And Kate Corner. Where were you today, Kate? Somewhere interstate. Victoria? Bright, maybe? I can't remember. So, yeah, I'm sure we'll hear from all the other reporters, some of the other reporters about some of the... singlet wearing wherever they're going to wear it and hopefully this isn't you don't you know you can wear it on other days I'm planning on wearing mine on Christmas Day at Mount Barker and of course you can continue wearing because it's pretty comfy and I definitely recommend people investing in one it's worth it uh and uh it's a great way to celebrate Christmas I wore mine to the gym yesterday for those playing at home for my rpm spin class and that was excellent thank you very much dad for the update on your Christmas singlet And now we are at the cafe, as Ez just said, and I thought I'd ask some of my parkrun squad to give me some dodgy Christmas cracker jokes. Who's got one? Serenity, have you got a dodgy joke for me?

00:38:40Unidentified speaker: I do, I do. What does Santa suffer from if he gets stuck in a chimney?

00:38:44Paul Kitching: Hmm, don't know.

00:38:45Unidentified speaker: Claustrophobia.

00:38:49Paul Kitching: So good. See you, Davo. See you, mate. You had a joke for me, eh?

00:38:52Davo: Yeah, did you hear about the guy who trained 27 pigeons to sit on his outstretched arms?

00:38:58Paul Kitching: Oh, yeah, so you're stretching your arms out. This is a visual joke for those playing at home. What a ledge. What a ledge. Do you guys have any Christmas cracker jokes for me? Esme?

00:39:08Esme: What did one snowman say to the other?

00:39:09Paul Kitching: I don't know. What did one snowman say to the other?

00:39:11Esme: Do you smell carrots?

00:39:15Paul Kitching: Who else has got one? Tracey? Anyone? Ava, have you got a Christmas cracker joke for me?

00:39:19Esme: What did Adam say on the day before Christmas?

00:39:22Paul Kitching: I don't know. What did Adam say?

00:39:23Esme: It's Christmas Eve.

00:39:27Paul Kitching: These are actually Christmas jokes, which I'm very impressed with. Hello, Sam.

00:39:31Steve Marston: Don't you hate it when people answer their own questions? I do.

00:39:36Paul Kitching: That's an awesome one. All right, I think that's it. I don't think I have any more. I've got lots of... Oh, I thought we were done, but Surini, you have one more?

00:39:43Unidentified speaker: Yeah, I think I have to do this with a dodgy Cockney accent. Please. But what does Santa do with fat elves?

00:39:49Paul Kitching: I don't know. What does Santa do with fat elves?

00:39:51Unidentified speaker: He sends them to an elf farm.

00:39:55Paul Kitching: Oh, that's good. Very good. We'll leave it on that one. See, they were a bit of Christmassy jokes.

00:39:59Cameron Drake: Thank you. Cheers. See you later.

00:40:02Paul Kitching: um yes so it's been an awesome Christmas parkrun or Christmas Eve parkrun eve eve eve whatever it is 21st of December and uh yeah wishing you all of the excellent parkrun adventurers a very merry Christmas and thanks for listening this year it's been a bit of fun thanks for putting up with my randomness um it's been a pleasure hope you'll have me back next year bring on a great 2020 merry Christmas and have a lovely lovely festive season cheers pk over and out

Roving report Tony O'Connell — Traralgon parkrun

00:40:32Tony O'Connell: Howdy parkrunners, Toc reporting in for the Channel 5 News crew. Today we've ventured over to Traralgon. It's cooled down a little bit today after yesterday's stinking 43 degrees or whatever it got to. Today's probably a mild 19 or 20 degrees. I'm standing here with a young bloke that's come down from Queensland and he's in a jumper, which he'd be the only person here in a jumper. Travis, how are you?

00:40:56Travis: Toc, I'm great, mate. It's not 19 degrees, it's about 11, I think. It's freezing. I've got my hoodie on. It's not very often I get to wear the Run Down Under hoodie.

00:41:04Tony O'Connell: I should introduce Travis. Travis is the founder of Run Down Under. He's come down to Traralgon today for his Run Down Under Christmas party. And Mel, look, sad face, but there's not an ugly singlet out here. But there is about 150 Run Down Under singlets. So, yeah, I think there might be a bit of a theme happening here today, Travis.

00:41:23Travis: Yeah, Mel, we've backed the trend. We've gone the opposite. Instead of ugly singlet, we've gone sensational singlet day. It's just a sea of the old singlets, the green and gold, and the new ones, the purple, which look awesome here at Traralgon.

00:41:35Tony O'Connell: And there's even the odd 2018, 2017 one running around. There is. There's a retro 2017, the orange.

00:41:43Travis: And the 2018, nothing further than back. Oh, but here's a good singlet. Here's a Richmond singlet, mate.

00:41:48Tony O'Connell: I've actually got the orange one over in my bag to change into after the run.

00:41:52Travis: Nice, nice.

00:41:53Tony O'Connell: Yeah, no, it's a great day. And what's happening after parkrun today, Trav?

00:41:57Travis: Yeah, so I came to Traralgon because they are the suburb with the most number of members in the one town. So parkrun, breakfast, and then I've got the Traralgon trot. Teams of two basically put the running shoes on and scour the town to take pictures, find locations, collect things, do things, have a bit of fun. Come back, there'll be a winning team announced, and someone will be the inaugural Run Down Under Christmas Party champions.

00:42:28Tony O'Connell: Cool, and then a bit of lunch after that.

00:42:29Travis: A bit of lunch afterwards. I'm hanging around all day. I'm going to stay an extra night. I'm going to go for a run here myself tomorrow around Traralgon. So, yeah. It's all happening. Looking forward to it.

00:42:38Tony O'Connell: Well, I might go and finish my parkrun. I'm sort of halfway through. We're about the 3k mark and just standing here having a chat watching all these people go past. Yeah. As we said, I think there's about three or four finishers that have done the full loop out here today, including the gentleman that's finished the fastest so far.

00:42:54Travis: Correct. Yeah, it's great to see. And speaking of the fastest, here are two, one and two in parkrun and maybe a run down under victory by the looks of it.

00:43:01Tony O'Connell: Yeah, geez, Slugger's got a bit of a burst on there. Go, Slugger. Yeah, Slugger's got a bit of a burst on. He looks like he'll finish pretty well.

00:43:08Travis: Awesome.

00:43:09Tony O'Connell: So you're fastest finisher. What time did he manage the 14,080 kilometres around Australia?

00:43:16Travis: So Des took on the challenge to be the fastest finisher and he finished in one year, four months and 11 days. It's an average of about 29 kilometres a day, every day for that one year, four months. And more importantly, Des is mainly a walker. So he runs parkrun or walks parkrun today, but he gets out there and when he was really having a crack, he would fill his weekends with 40k walks, hikes every morning.

00:43:46Tony O'Connell: That's amazing. That's having a crack.

00:43:47Travis: Every lunchtime he'd be out, he does a 10k. Even yesterday when it was 4,000 degrees, I noticed on Strava he got out and did a 10.5k walk. Yeah, just dedicated to get it done. Just shows that it's for everyone. He's the first to admit he's not the fastest, but he's the quickest to get the map done. One year, four months, 11 days.

00:44:05Tony O'Connell: And our Tail Walker today is another finisher as well, Mandy.

00:44:08Travis: Yes, Mandy, another finisher.

00:44:09Tony O'Connell: Yourself, there's three. That's a good thing. And you've finished as well?

00:44:14Travis: I finished. I was number 47. It took me five and a half years, not quite that one year. And I consider myself to run a lot. So five and a half years, I was pretty stoked with that. And I'm on my second map.

00:44:25Tony O'Connell: Oh mate, look it's been great. It's just a really great way of encouraging me to get out and encouraging a lot of people to get out. I've noticed the growth. You don't go to a parkrun now where there's not a Run Down Under singlet every week. It's just encouraging people to get out very much like parkruns. So it's a really great thing that we do and it's part of our community.

00:44:42Travis: Yeah, and I'm not going to lie, I model myself off parkrun, that community event, parkrun's local, so a lot of these people will go and have a coffee afterwards, whereas I try and do it virtually. High-five people virtually, see the singlets out wherever you're out running, and have that community, and make it all-inclusive, like parkrun. Anyone can do Run Down Under, anyone, the walkers at the back here, people from injury, anyone can do both. And I admire parkrun, and I do model myself off that community spirit.

00:45:09Tony O'Connell: Yeah, no, well done. Thanks, TOC. Any final message for the crowd with the festive season coming up?

00:45:14Travis: No, Merry Christmas. There is so many days we've got left in the year, 10 days left in the year. Get out there and run to achieve those goals and may 2020 be awesome. Cool. Thanks, Trav. Thanks, TOC. Cheers, mate.

00:45:27Tony O'Connell: Rightio, parkrunners, that's a wrap from Traralgon. Before I go, I'd like to wish all the parkrunners a safe and very happy Christmas and a parkrunning new year, especially our friends in Queensland, New South Wales and ACT that are affected by fires at the moment. I hope they go out and your air gets a lot clearer. Before I go, a really ordinary joke. What do you get if you cross a Christmas tree and an apple? The answer, a pineapple. Have a great Christmas, everyone. Cheers. TOC out.

Roving report Greta — Carisbrooke parkrun

00:46:00Greta: Hi, parkrun adventurers. It's Greta here. And today I'm here at Carisbrook parkrun. And Carisbrook are having their special Christmas parkrun on the 21st of December. And I'm here with Renata, who's the Run Director today. How are you going, Renata? Good, thank you. How are you? Yeah, I'm great, thank you. We had a lovely day today, didn't we?

00:46:20Renata: Yes, it was really nice weather. We didn't have that horrible 40-degree day. Because we've been in a bit of a heat wave here in South Australia, haven't we? Yes, very much so. Temperature's over 40 for about four days. Four days, yeah. So we're in the 20s now, back to normal.

00:46:37Greta: That's lovely.

00:46:38Renata: And some scary fires yesterday.

00:46:40Greta: And I know that they're kind of affecting much of Australia. So our thoughts go out to everyone who's dealing with that. But we had a lovely day here today and you did a great job of Run Director. Thank you.

00:46:51Renata: How long have you been Run Director here at Carisbrook? This is my fifth time now, so just a short time. I used to volunteer and do the other roles like barcode scanning and then I thought I'd just give run directing a go. And do you enjoy it? Yes, I love it. It's a very supportive community and everybody's quite helpful and we always get a nice audience and Yeah, it's a great community.

00:47:17Greta: Now, tell us a little bit about your course here.

00:47:19Renata: Okay, well, it's a trail runner's delight or trail walker's delight even. It's out and back and we've got lots of trees and there's a lot of shade. It's like a dirt path and we cross over a bridge. We see ducks. We've got a lake on the side. Wow. not a lake like a little creek sorry yeah not a lake some beautiful amazing trees big gum trees yes very old gum trees and it's good when it's sunny because you've got plenty of shade here it's not flat but it's got some small hills but it's quite pleasant to run or walk it is a lovely lovely course and what led you to start parkrunning Well, I've always been a runner. I was in school, I was a sprinter and then one day I was going to the gym and I got very bored of the gym and I saw an advertisement for City to Bay and I thought, that's it, I'm going to do it. So... Here I am, it's 14 years later, and I've just been doing parkruns just to keep my long distance running up. I just find running really easy. Oh, good. Yeah. That's good. Yeah.

00:48:35Greta: Oh, lovely. Well, thank you for having me at parkrun today. And I think you've also got a Christmas joke that you can share with us today.

00:48:42Renata: Is that right? Yes, I do. Thank you for coming. We've loved having everybody here. It's been a great morning. And now, what do monkeys sing at Christmas? Oh, I'm not sure. What do monkeys sing at Christmas? Jungle bells, jungle bells.

00:49:02Greta: Oh, thank you, Renata. Thank you so much for having us. Thank you.

00:49:06Renata: Christmas. Thank you very much. Merry Christmas. Thank you for coming.

00:49:11Greta: Hi Olivia, how are you?

00:49:12Olivia: Good, how are you?

00:49:13Greta: Good, and I hope you've enjoyed Christmas parkrun at Carisbrooke. Have you got a joke for me?

00:49:17Olivia: Yes, I actually have. What do elves learn at school?

00:49:23Greta: Oh, I don't know. What do elves learn at school?

00:49:25Olivia: The elf-a-bet.

00:49:26Greta: Hi Paul, how are you going?

00:49:31Paul: Yeah, really good. Thanks, Greta. And you?

00:49:32Greta: I'm good, thank you. And I hear you've got a Christmas joke for us.

00:49:35Paul: I have indeed. What sickness can you get if you eat too many Christmas decorations?

00:49:39Greta: Oh, I don't know. What sickness can you get?

00:49:41Paul: Tinsulitis.

00:49:44Greta: Hi, Alicia. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas to you, Greta. And have you got a Christmas joke for us? I've got a hilarious Christmas joke for you guys. I'm ready. Oh, yeah, get ready. What do you call Father Christmas at the beach? I don't know. What do you call Father Christmas at the beach? Sandy claws.

00:50:05David Moss: David in Adelaide wishing all the listeners a very enjoyable Christmas and an adventurous new year. What did Rudolph say about the big book of noses? I've already read that one.

00:50:20Melissa Erbacher: So many cheesy bonbon jokes. They are so bad, they're good. And that's the way we like them. And we've got a bit of a new voice with Maddie Trent coming to us from Maylands Peninsula this week. Thanks to Maddie who chatted to Emma and Ben. And congratulations, Emma and Ben. I'm hoping all went well and you're actually married by now.

00:50:43Scott Watkins: Yes.

00:50:44Melissa Erbacher: Love to hear that you're parkrunning on your wedding day.

00:50:47Scott Watkins: Yeah, wedding parkruns, I've seen a few over the years and it's awesome. I think, you know, I've met a few bridal party members who don't get it and they're like, why am I here on the morning of a wedding? Because it's generally the bride and groom who are driving these things. Yeah, and I think we and people who listen to the podcast can totally get that. When parkrun is such a huge part of your life and a way to include it in a really special day, it's great. So, yeah, I encourage it. So if you're out there thinking about getting married, make sure you factor parkrun into your planning.

00:51:18Melissa Erbacher: Definitely. Lyndell, she had a bunch of RDs and I love that they shared some of their Christmassy jokes as well.

00:51:28Scott Watkins: Yes. Have you got a punchline to finish off? Have you got an answer to the question that was posed about why did the koala cuddle the pineapple?

00:51:36Melissa Erbacher: I do, actually. I liked this, Steve, and I'm glad. Glad you spent five kilometres running around trying to think what a punchline could be. And I've come up with this. If any of our listeners have something better, then we'd love to hear it. But basically, I think, why did the koala cuddle the pineapple? Because he knew it was sweet on the inside and he wanted to live pineapple-y ever after.

00:52:01Scott Watkins: That is brilliant. Pineapple-y ever after. I love it.

00:52:05Melissa Erbacher: What can you do? All these jokes need to be pretty terrible. That's the whole purpose of a bonbon joke.

00:52:11Scott Watkins: It's a big part of Christmas, the bad joke. So, yeah.

00:52:14Melissa Erbacher: It is. And we've got some bonbons to crack a little bit later, don't we, Scott?

00:52:17Scott Watkins: Yes, we do. We will. And, yeah, there was a couple of the reports there touching on cancellations around Australia at the moment, which was unfortunate. But, you know, our thoughts are with all the people that are having to focus on other things in their lives, particularly children. fires. It was most of them in Australia, I think, wasn't it, Mel, that were cancelled due to fire at the moment?

00:52:39Melissa Erbacher: 23 out of the 24 cancellations were either directly as a result of immediate danger from bushfire or hazardous conditions, you know, smoke and difficulty breathing and all that sort of thing. And that's across New South Wales, ACT and South Australia at the moment. And it's just catastrophic.

00:53:02Scott Watkins: Yeah, as I said, I think the number of people that are affected by this is huge at the moment. It's very early in the summer for all of this to be happening. And I think most Australians have some connection to this sort of thing. You know, I certainly grew up in an area that was very bushfire prone and very aware of the risks and stuff like that. So I think we can all empathise with the people that are really focused on this. paying very close attention to where the fires are at the moment and potentially having to pack up and get out of where they are. It's a tough time.

00:53:33Melissa Erbacher: It is, and safety is 100% the top priority for everybody involved. We just want everyone to take care and be safe. And it's testament as well to our parkrun communities that Mark, for example, all the Canberra parkruns were cancelled, but he and a whole bunch of people from Gungahlin and Wagi Bridge parkruns still went to their local haunt to meet for breakfast. They weren't going to get their parkrun fixed, but they still wanted to spend that time together anyway. and were able to do so safely. So they did.

00:54:02Scott Watkins: Yeah, that's really great.

00:54:05Melissa Erbacher: Conversely, in the UK, they're cancelling due to floods. So guys, if you're getting wet feet out there in the Northern Hemisphere, we're thinking of you as well.

00:54:13Scott Watkins: Yes. Our thoughts go to everybody who doesn't get to do it, but there'll be another week. That's the great thing about parkrun. Every Saturday, they'll be back.

00:54:22Melissa Erbacher: Absolutely. It was great to hear that TOC had a bit of a different morning with the Run Down Under party. And he spoke to Trav, who we've had on the podcast before. And it's great to hear that Run Down Under is going from strength to strength as well.

00:54:36Scott Watkins: Yeah, I haven't actually signed up with that, but I'm very aware of it. And it's certainly an awesome community and a really great way to engage with running. And TOC said in there about learning more about the history of places than he did at school and stuff like that. And that's awesome, having this virtual run around the country. I think it's great.

00:54:57Melissa Erbacher: And many thanks also to G-Train coming to us from a little bit of a different temperature scale. That was a bit cool, literally. It was wonderful to get your contribution this week, Gerard. And also to Greta and all the other Channel 5 News crew for submitting their roving reports in whatever way, shape or form they came through this week. It was lovely to hear all your Merry Christmases and dodgy, dodgy jokes.

00:55:24[12 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

Season finale year in review

00:55:36Melissa Erbacher: Now, speaking of great things, I wanted to have a chat with you, Scott, about what might have been some of the highlights that you've had this year throughout your parkrun or just, you know, your general running journey. What are the fun things that really stick out for you that have been great?

00:55:53Scott Watkins: Yeah, look, running is obviously a huge part of my life. And I think parkrun is the biggest part of that. But I also have a very strong connection. I mentioned it a little bit earlier, I travel a lot for work. And those who know me know I actually work in Korea. And the running group there, I plug to the Seoul Flyers, who are an awesome social running group there. And they've And my involvement with them has been amazing because they're friends that I have that are there when I turn up in Seoul and I can participate in running with them. And that's been great. And I've done a couple of big runs there, did the Seoul International Marathon again earlier in the year and a few other runs throughout Asia as well. So there have been some highlights, parkrun related, there was one I just thought of when I actually submitted a roving report for this earlier in the year when I visited the parkrun in Pensacola in Florida. So the event name is RecPlex North there. And when I visited, it was very early. They were only a couple of months into operating there. But what I was really, really impressed by was the fact that This is a pretty isolated parkrun. There aren't any close to it. So the people, the locals who discovered it, they didn't have another parkrun to compare it to. But it was really... a really really normal parkrun like the briefing the feel the vibe the the diversity of the people participating just felt like any other parkrun that I have been to and really emphasised how replicable this this concept is and how genuine the the the engagement with the community can be because the event is is really simple and so to see this this event in a in northern Florida in this part of the USA that doesn't have any parkruns near it set up and have a really, really strong community feel to it, but that be absolutely in line with the way parkrun operates around the rest of the world. That was really, really neat to see. And it was probably one of the parkruns that I've had to travel the most to sort of get to. And so it was really awesome and rewarding to have that adventure and have such a great experience on that day.

00:58:08Melissa Erbacher: Sounds awesome. I always wonder about the events that don't have any close neighbours and especially when it comes to like, how do they get started? The founding ED, like what motivated them? And often it's just, oh, well, I heard about it and sounded like a great idea. So I wanted to bring that to my community. And they'd never even participated in a parkrun themselves. But you're right. It's always just, you know, you go to them and they're just like all the other parkruns.

00:58:35Scott Watkins: Yeah, because, I mean, you've seen it more directly than me in Australia with events that you've supported getting started. And, you know, I'm sure you've seen people who are exactly that, Event Directors who've started up a parkrun with very limited personal experience with the event. And I'm in awe of them. I haven't done that. I didn't start an event. And, yeah. So the people who do that and do it, they basically trust parkrun and they trust the movement, they trust the organisation that it's going to support them and deliver what they perceive that it's going to be. So they put in all this work to create the community, create the event, get the approvals and stuff like that without having had the personal benefit of it yet. You know, it's all done on a promise, on a hope. So, you know, hats off to those sort of people who do that. But that's enough about me. What about you, Mel? You've had a big year. There have been a lot of changes on and off the podcast. What have been some highlights for you?

00:59:35Melissa Erbacher: It has been a big year. Lots of changes on the pod. Well, the highlight, the single highlight, I think, happened yesterday and that was International Ugly Christmas Singlet Day.

00:59:50Scott Watkins: Great.

00:59:51Melissa Erbacher: That's my personal single highlight for the podcast. Obviously, other big life highlights outside of the pod, I gave birth to my second son. The birthing part, not so much fun, but the son part, definite highlight. Yeah. It is a constant squeaky joy, a round, chubby, heavy squeaky joy. Looking forward to having Christmas with the two of them, actually. It's going to be fun.

01:00:18Scott Watkins: Great.

01:00:18Melissa Erbacher: But, yes, the pod highlight was definitely International Ugly Christmas Singlet Day and seeing people participate. And it's just another extension of this awesome community that we've created on the parkrun adventurers that's sort of in and around parkrun but just, augmenting what's already an incredible thing going on.

01:00:41Scott Watkins: Yeah, well, I find it connects me to people, you know, all around the world and their views, their ideas, their experiences and that's great and it's great that you take joy from that.

01:00:51Melissa Erbacher: absolutely and so you touched on there's been big changes and obviously anyone who's listening to this episode is probably aware that Scotty who is the creator of this podcast uh you know he's the instigator he's the one who asked me if I'd come along for the ride and a ride it has been yes uh he he left the pod earlier this year got about halfway through this year and um It changes. They happened and I've had the support of some incredible people with the Channel 5 News crew who not only have they continued with their wonderful roving reports, but they've also joined me on the role of co-hoster and have presented the pod over the last 20 or so episodes. So I'd like to take this opportunity now actually to thank everyone All of them, Cam, Dave, Gary, Greta, Lyndell, Mark, Melissa, PK, TOC. You guys are amazeballs. It goes without saying that the pod wouldn't be what it is without you. And I thank you so much for your ongoing and continued support. Your wacky ideas, your enthusiasm, your willingness to just run with any of my little slightly off the wall ideas that I might pose to you. It's been a lot of fun and I look forward to a lot more fun with the Channel 5 News crew in the future.

01:02:20Scott Watkins: As a listener, they've been amazing. You know, I mean, I'm only sitting in this chair for this week, obviously, is the first time. But so I want to add my thanks to all of them for what they've done, because as a listener and as a passionate fan of the podcast, I feel that very much they have enabled me. you to be able to continue doing this. And I think we as listeners all owe them a big thanks for that. But also just for the insight, the humour, the stories that they bring, the diversity of experiences and the things that I've learned in the last year from all of them have been great. And I really, really enjoy that. So, yeah, from me, if I may, on behalf of other listeners, I thank all of them for their contribution because it's really, really great.

01:03:08Melissa Erbacher: Oh, that's very sweet of you, Scott. I'm sure they'll all appreciate that. And I know they love what they do. They love doing it and they love being a part of it and we love having them. So that's been a very special part of the pod this year, more so than in previous years. And, you know, four years now we've been going. It's not a short duration.

01:03:30Scott Watkins: Yes, and it is a milestone in podcast history about parkrun, isn't it?

01:03:37Melissa Erbacher: I wasn't going to really showboat about it.

01:03:42Scott Watkins: Well, I think it's because it's something that I became aware of during the week and we discussed of, and this episode means that it's the parkrun podcast that has now had the most number of episodes, the original parkrun podcast that operated in the UK for a long time, which did a great job, you know, Danny and Nicola did a great job of introducing the concept of a parkrun podcast. And it's great that they're back now with With Me Now and continuing that trend. But their original parkrun show podcast came to an end a few years ago. But today, the parkrun adventurers actually overtakes that in a number of episodes. And I think And it's not showboating, Mel, that's just a statement of fact. And I think that it is a real achievement to recognise that. And I think that you and Scotty have created something really, really great. And the fact that you've been able to continue and get to that milestone after Scotty decided that it wasn't for him anymore is really great. So I think you should celebrate it and be really, really proud of that.

01:04:52Melissa Erbacher: Oh, I'm not very good at taking compliments, but you can come on the pod anytime you like, Scott. You're very complimentary. Thank you.

01:05:03Scott Watkins: Well, look, I mean, but it's genuine. It's genuine. I mean, I'm a genuine listener. I mean, people who... know me or have seen comments over the years. One of the things is that I always listen to it very sped up. I've only got a limited amount of time in my day. So it's actually interesting hearing your voice at normal speed, not fast.

01:05:23Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, not 1.5 times as fast as usual.

01:05:28Scott Watkins: Yeah, but it's really great. It's, you know, I've had some, when I think back over the last couple of years, there's some funny moments with me with the podcast. I remember one time a couple of years ago when I was in Korea and I was on the subway going to the airport and I was listening to the podcast and then Scott called me on Messenger or something like that. And I started talking to him and it was like, wow, the podcast just phoned me in real life. Yeah. And I went from hearing the recording of him to actually talking with him. But, yeah, there have been many, many great things. Being able to contribute a couple of little bits has obviously been a real thrill. And I've always, you know, taken the view that I've submitted them for your consideration. And I think, you know, between the two of you, you always included them. Yeah. I think it was a nice thing, like I said earlier in our discussion, to be able to contribute, and I've enjoyed that. And I think that everybody else who has contributed takes something from it as well, as well as giving a contribution. But the overall thing is, yeah, you should be really happy. And at the end of the year, the last episode of the year, it's an okay time to reflect on that sort of stuff. So, yeah, well done and congratulations.

01:06:44Melissa Erbacher: Thanks. Well, now that I feel a little bit awkward, I think we should change the subject.

01:06:51Scott Watkins: What about for next year? What about goals or ideas or dreams or things? Where do you see yourself adventuring to or what would you love to see next year?

01:07:03Melissa Erbacher: Oh, I can't wait for palm20 in March. On March the 7th is the actual parkrun day that we will all be converging on the Mount Barker team who are are very enthusiastic and opening their parkrun up to us with wide open arms. So really looking forward to catching up with as many adventurers that weekend as possible. I don't know, just more adventures. More adventures, Scott. That's what I want. How about you? Have you thought much about what you would like? If you could have a Christmas wish for 2020, what would it be for parkrun?

01:07:39Scott Watkins: People who know me, again, my Christmas wish is very obvious in that I bang on about this all the time about the possibility of there being parkrun in Korea. It's become a very important part in my life and I've obviously become involved with that, there who love running and you know this is a decision for the global team you know expansion is a big big decision and you know each country needs to be looked at on its merits and stuff so I you know can't preempt that but all I can say is if there are people out there who are have a connection to Korea or an interest in Korea or something like that, you know, continue to raise those. But I think that the potential there is enormous. Korea is very, very... A country well set up for running events like parkrun. I think particularly in Seoul, there's a lot of locations that could do it really well. There's running paths that are separated well from cycling paths that are really, really well laid out around the city. There's a real culture of participation in running events and quite an inclusive and diverse participation. There's a lot of big events that happen that sell out really, really quickly. And I think that it would take off very, very rapidly, as we've seen in other countries over the last few years. So, yeah, that would definitely be top of my Christmas list to be able to see, you know, all my friends and colleagues that I have there to be able to participate in something that brings such joy and benefits to my life. So, yeah, stay tuned. It'll happen at some point, but, yeah, when the time's right.

01:09:16Melissa Erbacher: That's a good one. I like it. Now, I want to bring it back to Christmas because this is technically our Christmas episode and we haven't been too Christmassy yet.

Christmas bonbon jokes

01:09:26Melissa Erbacher: The team did share some of their bonbon jokes, which were all those kind of cringeworthy situations. And as I mentioned earlier, we do have some bonbons to crack. So I think it might be time. Well, I'll say, do you want to start? But here, I'll grab one end.

01:09:41Scott Watkins: I'll reach through the microphone and hold on to your hand. Okay.

01:09:45Melissa Erbacher: Are you ready?

01:09:46Scott Watkins: Yep.

01:09:47Melissa Erbacher: Oh, you won that one. So you get to go first.

01:09:52Scott Watkins: Okay, well, I'm unwrapping the little joke here. And okay, here it is. This is a good one. What would you call an elf who has just won the lottery?

01:10:05Melissa Erbacher: Lottery? No, I've got no idea.

01:10:11Scott Watkins: That's actually really terrible, isn't it? But quite clever.

01:10:18Melissa Erbacher: It is, but I love elf puns, you know, treat your elf and all those sorts of things. I'm a big fan of elf puns.

01:10:25Scott Watkins: So pull another one?

01:10:27Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, another one.

01:10:28Scott Watkins: Get another. Okay. All right, I got my end.

01:10:31Melissa Erbacher: I better win this time. You ready?

01:10:33Scott Watkins: Okay.

01:10:36Melissa Erbacher: excellent yay oh and there's a there's a rubik's cube a miniature rubik's cube in this one okay where's my joke okay drum roll what do you call a crate of ducks crate of ducks I don't know a box of quackers That one's sort of Christmassy theme.

01:11:01Scott Watkins: That's very good. That's because they get Christmas back in the punchline. There must be a whole industry of people. Like I can't imagine what it would be like to have this job. Like do you go into work every day and you've got to sit down and come up with these things or do they crowdsource them? I'd love to meet someone who this is their job and just find out what their day-to-day. Like do they have to have team meetings and, you know, like 360-degree assessments? Like your jokes, Scott, weren't really up to date. up to par this year. You didn't have a great year.

01:11:32Melissa Erbacher: I think that might be a goal for next year is to find one of the people whose job it is to write these jokes and get them on the pod at Christmas time.

01:11:41Scott Watkins: It's fascinating. I hope that people all around the world who are listening to this get their fair share of really bad jokes over the next couple of days because it's an important part of the ritual.

01:11:51Melissa Erbacher: It is a very important part. Now, we don't have any terrible Christmas songs with everybody singing for anyone this year. I am still a relative newbie to this whole editing malarkey and I'm not sure my skills extend to making the Channel 5 News crew sound as well as Scotty did last year. So I'm not even going to attempt it.

01:12:15Scott Watkins: And I think... My enthusiasm for singing is... linked to my how terrible I am at it and it would have been a very big reveal and a very big shock if there was suddenly me bursting into songs that's probably better that that you know that's not a contribution I make to the podcast yes so we're not going to go out with singing this year how should we go out Scott what what should we well I think you know you you Yeah, you've been the one that's shepherded this podcast through some really big changes this year. You've been the one constant in people's ears as they've been out, beating the paths running or on their commutes to work, in their cars. I remember when Scotty left, hearing a few people saying that, you know, they were listening in their car and they had to pull over because, you know, it was quite an emotional moment and they couldn't keep driving. And I can certainly relate to that. You know, it was all a bit of a shock to all of us. But through all of that, you've been the constant. So I think that it's appropriate that you finish in just by, you know, saying goodbye for the year to the listeners who've been your friends and your your fellow adventurers on on the way um like I said before as a listener you know I I thank you so much for doing this but I think you can uh you can take us out with um with a Christmas farewell to all of the listeners

01:13:38Melissa Erbacher: Oh, you're getting me all emotional now though, Scott. Thank you to everybody who has tuned in, listened in the car, listened in the bath, listened on your runs, wherever you might have been. I forgot the bath. We hope you've enjoyed the pod this year. It has been definitely a bit of a rollercoaster ride for us and we're looking forward to a little bit of a break to do some more adventures over the festive season. We will be back in January. Looking forward to the 20s with a lot of excitement. The last time we had a 20s, I wasn't alive, but by all accounts, they seemed to be pretty damn amazing.

01:14:22Paul Kitching: They rocked.

01:14:23Unidentified speaker: Yeah.

01:14:24Melissa Erbacher: So I'm looking forward to a likewise amazing 2020. 2019 has had its ups and downs, quite a few downs actually. So I know a lot of people are looking forward to seeing the back of it. For the most part, I have had a great time. I've enjoyed the new adventure that the podcast has become, learning how to edit and being challenged. So I thank Scotty. For leaving it in my hands, for having the trust and the faith in me that I could continue it without him, even though it hasn't always been easy. I have missed him, won't lie.

Sign-off

01:15:05Scott Watkins: But you've continued on, and I know that it's been a roller coaster and a few ups and downs, but you've continued on. And for me to be able to contribute to this very last episode, like I said right at the start, has been an honour and a privilege. It was unexpected, so thank you for that chance. But this is the end of this episode, the end of 2019 and congratulations on all you've achieved Mel and I wish you a very very happy end to the year Merry Christmas Happy New Year and look forward to hearing more next year Thanks for joining me too Scott it's been a big deal having another Scott on the pod it really has and you've done a great job like I said earlier you're welcome back anytime Well, thank you. I would be very happy to do that, but I remain, first and foremost, a passionate listener. So thanks to everyone who's been with us for this episode. Enjoy your break if you're having one. Stay safe, stay running, and keep enjoying your adventures wherever they may take you.

01:16:06[music]

01:16:15[69 seconds of audio that could not be transcribed]

Santa's Christmas visit

Interview Scott Trickett — the podcast's founder and former co-host, appearing in character as Santa

01:17:24Melissa Erbacher: What's that I hear? Is there something? Something's just landed on my roof. I don't know what's going on. Oh my goodness. There's a jolly man who's just jumped in the window. It's the man himself. I think you need to say ho, ho, ho.

01:17:44Scott Trickett: Ho, ho, ho. It wouldn't be a Christmas episode without me, would it?

01:17:50Melissa Erbacher: It's Santa. My goodness. I mean, I believe in Santa, so I knew you were real. But Santa, what are you doing here?

01:17:57Scott Trickett: I just thought I'd check in, heard about this podcast, and thought I'd bring the gift of joy and happiness here. To the parkrun adventurers, one last time, or one more time, whichever way you look at it.

01:18:14Melissa Erbacher: One last time for 2019. 2019, yeah.

01:18:17Scott Trickett: That's how it goes, yeah.

01:18:19Melissa Erbacher: Awesome. Well, pull up a seat, Santa. Let's have a chat.

01:18:22Scott Trickett: Yeah. Thanks for having me, Mel. It's been a pleasure so far, and we're only one minute in. Like, I remember, like, I mean, I didn't come through the window. You didn't? No, I didn't. I didn't. I'm in another room in another city. But I remember how this works.

01:18:41Melissa Erbacher: You're spoiling the facade.

01:18:43Scott Trickett: Sorry. Is it coming back?

01:18:46Melissa Erbacher: I'm not sure that's going to do it.

01:18:54Scott Trickett: But where's the other bloke? Was there someone else here I heard earlier?

01:18:59Melissa Erbacher: Yeah, I got a new Scott. Right. Where is he? Because my former Scotty left, so I got a new Scott. He's not in the room with me, so I don't know where he's gone. Possible your transmission has blocked his off.

01:19:18Scott Trickett: Maybe. Maybe too many Scotts on one podcast. Well, with this, I don't know. I'm Santa. Maybe too many S's. I don't know. Hey, one thing I had heard you were doing is, and it's a parkrun adventurers tradition, Christmas jokes.

01:19:40Melissa Erbacher: Bonbon jokes specifically. I actually have a bonbon here. Did you bring one?

01:19:44Scott Trickett: Yeah, I've got a bonbon, yep.

01:19:47Melissa Erbacher: You've got one. Oh, okay. Well, in that case... Well, no, actually, I don't.

01:19:49Scott Trickett: No, I don't. I don't. You're right. I can't find it.

01:19:54Melissa Erbacher: All right. Well, in that case, you can share mine. Let me get one I prepared earlier. All right. Ready? Have you got your end?

01:20:03Scott Trickett: I'm reaching through. Yep. Got it.

01:20:05Melissa Erbacher: Okay. One, two, three.

01:20:08Scott Trickett: Oh. Hey. You won.

01:20:10Melissa Erbacher: Don't you love the smell of snapped bonbons?

01:20:14Scott Trickett: Not really. No. Okay.

01:20:17Melissa Erbacher: It smells like a little bit of gunpowder. Well, what I anticipate gunpowder smells like. Not that I've ever smelt it. So, what's the joke? I won, but I think the joke fell out into your lap.

01:20:27Scott Trickett: Okay. Are you sure? Did you pick up the Christmas bonbons? Well, here's my joke.

01:20:37Melissa Erbacher: Okay.

01:20:39Scott Trickett: How does the Easter Bunny keep his fur neat?

01:20:42Melissa Erbacher: Keep his fur neat? With a hairbrush.

01:20:48Scott Trickett: I think I got the wrong bonbons. I think I got the Easter package.

01:20:53Melissa Erbacher: Wait a minute. Is hair spelled H-A-R-E?

01:20:56Scott Trickett: Yeah.

01:20:58Melissa Erbacher: Get it? Okay. Yeah, it's not very good, Scotty.

01:21:02Scott Trickett: No, because it's Easter.

01:21:03Melissa Erbacher: I didn't know they did Easter bonbons. Is that a thing?

01:21:08Scott Trickett: Well, it apparently is. Hey, but being Santa... people often ask me, like, what's the best Christmas present in the world? Any idea? What's the best Christmas present in the world?

01:21:21Melissa Erbacher: Do you need to know? Like, you haven't yet purchased one for someone?

01:21:25Scott Trickett: No, no, no. This is just a question I get. You know, giving out so many presents. You know, people want to know what's the best one. You know what I always tell them?

01:21:33Melissa Erbacher: What do you always tell them? I don't know. You're the Santa. You tell me.

01:21:36Scott Trickett: It's a broken drum. You just can't beat it.

01:21:40[laughter]

01:21:40Melissa Erbacher: Oh, my gosh. I walked straight into that one, didn't I? It's like that time you told me about the cemetery all over again.

01:21:50Scott Trickett: People are dying to get in.

01:21:56Melissa Erbacher: Yeah. You can't be buried. No, I think you said you can't be buried there anymore because you're not dead yet or something like that.

01:22:02Scott Trickett: Yeah, the people who live there, they can't be buried in the cemetery because they're still alive, obviously.

01:22:08Unidentified speaker: No.

01:22:11Scott Trickett: That's the one. The broken drum. So, yeah, anyway. But I don't want to take this to a dark place. I can, but, you know, I didn't want to start bringing up the cemetery jokes on the Christmas episode.

01:22:24Melissa Erbacher: No. I'm still giggling about you can't beat it. You can't beat it.

01:22:34Scott Trickett: Anyway, not technically a bonbon joke, but, yeah. I'm Santa. I can break the rules.

01:22:44Melissa Erbacher: Well, I won't tell you about some of the other ones that we got submitted.

01:22:46Scott Trickett: Okay. Well, I'll tell you what, I'll be listening. I haven't heard myself on radio or on podcast for a few months now, so I'll make sure I listen to this one.

01:22:57Melissa Erbacher: Have you been listening to the podcast in general? Yeah, I have. Okay.

01:23:02Scott Trickett: Yeah.

01:23:02Melissa Erbacher: How do you think it's going?

01:23:03Scott Trickett: It's going great. I think one thing, that other bloke was really holding it back in a lot of areas.

01:23:10Melissa Erbacher: Oh, well, hmm.

01:23:12Scott Trickett: Anyway, the word on the street, that's what people are saying, and I believe them. So it's been great. It's been great not to hear his voice for a few months.

01:23:23Melissa Erbacher: I disagree. Santa, you're a busy man, especially this time of year, and I expect the months leading up to Christmas, probably also exceptionally busy. But can you tell me, have you got any highlights from the year?

01:23:38Scott Trickett: Oh, look, really putting me on the spot, Mel. Really putting me on the spot. But earlier in the year, you guys did a listener meetup. You might not have seen me because with the white beard and the white sand, I sort of blended in a bit. But the listener meetup at the Beaches was a real highlight. I'm going to try and make next year's one. I heard that you're going to take it to Mount Barker. So look out for me there.

01:24:05Melissa Erbacher: Absolutely.

01:24:06Scott Trickett: That was a real highlight. Awesome. I've been fortunate enough to have two road trips this year and one just recently. Two? Yeah, I went to Campaspe. It was a nice little event, but it also doubled as increasing my Wilson Index. So I'm sort of in my retirement. I've focused on my Wilson and P Index and staying close to home, that sort of thing. Okay. So that's been a highlight. Ticked off a queue earlier this year. There's a couple. There's a couple of highlights. Ran in the pouring rain at a beachside parkrun called Torquay on the one morning, like torrential rain. It rained for the whole parkrun. It hasn't happened to me very often.

01:24:47Melissa Erbacher: That sounds awesome.

01:24:48Scott Trickett: Happens to do it when I'm on a weekend away down by the beach.

01:24:55Melissa Erbacher: Well, we wouldn't give for a little bit of rain right now.

01:24:58Scott Trickett: Yeah. So there's a couple of highlights.

01:25:01Melissa Erbacher: Well, Santa, it's been awesome having you here. If you could say anything, and you can because you're here and you're recording with me now, if you could say anything to our listeners, wish them well or Merry Christmas or whatnot, what would you say? And in fact, not what, just say it.

01:25:18Scott Trickett: Yeah, well, one thing I've realised the last few months is that the parkrun community, we know it, and the parkrun adventurers community demonstrated again on the weekend with International Ugly Singlet Day that they're a pretty good bunch of people, Mel. I've really missed being involved with that event, that crowd you know busy busy busy up up in the north pole sometimes dallying in the south pole I mean who who came up with that I had to stay in the north pole I'm an international man international man of mystery Yeah, so whatever happens, you know, this podcast hopefully goes from strength to strength, but the community that will support it moving forward in whatever direction it takes, that's what I wish. That's what I wish for everybody. And thanks for a wonderful four years of listening, of course, listening to it. Really, when it's gone, you don't realise how much you miss it, but... Not that I ever left, but, you know, I'm just thinking out loud vicariously through other people. And when you're Santa, you can do that. You can ramble and not make much sense. So, in summary, Merry Christmas, Mel. Merry Christmas to the showmen and your boys.

01:26:42Melissa Erbacher: Thank you, Santa. Show your Christmas spirit in presents in two days' time, please.

01:26:49Scott Trickett: Take it for granted. That will happen.